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The War of the Worlds (1953)

Directed by Byron Haskin · Cinematography by George Barnes

G87 min61 frames

Science FictionAction

Mighty panorama of Earth-shaking fury as an army from Mars invades!

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Stills, screencaps & shots from The War of the Worlds

16 of 61 frames — the full set is searchable by lighting, lens, shot size, color and mood with a free account.

The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: fullbody — A room in disarray features fallen ceiling beams, debris-covered floors, and scattered…The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: fullbody — A rural roadside scene with a dusty beige car and overgrown trees. Five people stand together…The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: wide — A desolate loading dock exterior is littered with loose paper, wood scraps, and packing material. A…The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: establishing — The Houses of Parliament stand as dark silhouettes against a moonlit night sky. A calm…The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: wide — A group of soldiers in helmets crouch in a dirt trench at night. Greenish blue lighting covers the…The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: closeup — A projection screen displaying an image of three people sits in a darkened room. The woman in…The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: medium — A dark, grassy landscape at night provides the backdrop for two people. A man holding a woman in…The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: closeup — A dimly lit indoor space with a man positioned near technical filming equipment. The man gazes…The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: establishing — A dark, decaying interior space features peeling wallpaper and broken wooden structural…The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: medium — A rustic wood-frame fire lookout tower at night offers views of distant dark mountains. Two men…The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: wide — A dark, ruined cityscape stands under a swirling purple and dark red sky. A partially destroyed…The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: medium — A dark church interior contains rows of pews and an ornate candle holder.The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: fullbody — A suburban house at night with dark, looming trees and a wooden picket fence. Two people run…The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: wide — A stone church stands before a horizon glowing with an intense red and orange fire. A person faces…The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: fullbody — Three men stand on dark, uneven dirt ground at night under artificial illumination. The man on…The War of the Worlds (1953) movie still: medium — A rural setting with distant rolling mountains visible behind a parked vintage automobile. Three…
The War of the Worlds (1953) — © Paramount Pictures

The War of the Worlds — official trailer

What is The War of the Worlds about?

The residents of a small town are excited when a flaming meteor lands in the hills, until they discover it is the first of many transport devices from Mars bringing an army of invaders invincible to any man-made weapon, even the atomic bomb.

The War of the Worlds is a 1953 American science fiction thriller film directed by Byron Haskin, produced by George Pal, and starring Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. The first film adaptation of H. G. Wells' 1898 novel of the same name in which Earth is invaded by Martians, the setting is changed from Victorian era England to 1950s Southern California. The first of two adaptations of Wells's classic science fiction filmed by Pal, The War of the Worlds won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and went on to influence other science fiction films. It is considered one of the great science fiction films of the 1950s. In 2011, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress, who deemed it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Second paragraph from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Where can you watch The War of the Worlds?

US availability for The War of the Worlds (1953). Data by JustWatch, listings on TMDB. Availability changes — check the provider for current listings.

Who stars in The War of the Worlds?

Who made The War of the Worlds?

What does the cinematography of The War of the Worlds look like?

Sampled across 61 frames, the coverage of The War of the Worlds leans on wide compositions (36% of the sample) and medium shots (26%). Cinematographer George Barnes keeps 59% of it in soft, low-key light. Night and dusk account for 66% of the frames. Vintage glass shapes the frame. Deep focus keeps foreground and background readable at once in 59% of the frames.

What is the color palette of The War of the Worlds?

The dominant colors across the sampled frames of The War of the Worlds (1953) are #302f2f, #0a0a0d, #54524d, #747070, #271514, #f1f0f0 — measured from the per-frame color data FrameThrower extracts for every film.

  • #302f2f
  • #0a0a0d
  • #54524d
  • #747070
  • #271514
  • #f1f0f0

See the full The War of the Worlds colour palette — every hex with its share, plus warmth, saturation and luminance.

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